That’s not to mention the dangers of the lifestyle the job requires. There’s the halloween candy, the late hours, the coffee dependence, the time away from my family, and the heavy drinking. According to a 2004 study, 62% of Americans said their workload had increased in the past six months and 53% said it left them feeling “overtired and overwhelmed”. Employees at modern technology companies often find themselves working 85 hours a week; at startups it’s far worse. Of course it’s not surprising that we’ve lost the heritage of the 40 hour work week that working people fought for through unions — modern America is barely unionized. Even though we suffers from serious safety issues and overwork, Americans want to think of themselves as middle class and thus see unions as inappropriate. In his book After The New Economy, Doug Henwood quotes an employee of Sony saying, “I was only half-joking when I went around asking my fellow engineers if they’d be willing to join a union.” Henwood asks, “Why is that a joke? Are unions only for truck drivers?”

It is one thing to talk about these issues, but there will be no changes without action. Starting today, I’ve joined the Internet/Web Workers of the World (IWWW) and am going on strike, effective immediately. Perhaps my small struggle will not make a big difference in the scheme of things, but I hope it will be an example for you all.